Assembly line roles responsible for much of the growth of employment in the industrial sector over the past five years, say researchers

Britain’s manufacturing recovery from the financial crash is built on an expansion of low-skilled jobs, according to a report that dents the sector’s modern, hi-tech image.

The findings show that since 2011, far from being the source of new jobs in research and development, the manufacturing sector has suffered a “fresh era of decline” as it relies on an expansion of assembly line roles in industries from drug making to food processing.

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